UNESCO in Guatemala inaugurates first UNESCO-MALALA-MINEDUC Center

The inauguration of the Center in Santa María Chiquimula was carried out on the morning of July 11 of this year, at the Fe y Alegría School, where the Minister of Education, Óscar Hugo López, participated.

Santa María Chiquimula now has a UNESCO-MALALA-MINEDUC Center, a UNESCO initiative designed to promote more than 250 girls, young women, and women in that municipality, promoting their access to education.

The inauguration of the Center in Santa María Chiquimula was carried out on the morning of July 11 of this year, at the Fe y Alegría School, where the Minister of Education, Óscar Hugo López, participated. the technical support of UNESCO and the implementation of projects that promote education as a fundamental right of people.

The Minister also invited all the girls and women of that municipality to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the UNESCO-MALALA Centers Project in favor of education. "We recognize the courage of a young woman named Malala who challenged society and fought for the education rights of girls and women," she said during her speech. In addition, he indicated that Santa María Chiquimula is the first municipality in Guatemala and Latin America that inaugurates a UNESCO-MALALA Center. This Center is to strengthen the education of girls and women and is key to the development of communities, he concluded.

"For UNESCO it is a very important day because a project that contributes to the education of girls and women is inaugurated" declared the Representative of UNESCO in Guatemala, Dr. Julio Carranza, during the opening ceremony.

One of the main actions of the project is the possibility it offers to girls and women to continue their studies. Dr. Carranza explains that the idea of this initiative is that it can become a bridge that connects women in situations of marginality that could not conclude at an appropriate age their educational process with a series of training workshops on health and well-being and economic autonomy formulated to strengthen and improve their quality of life.

At the end of his speech, the Representative of UNESCO thanked the Ministry of Education and the institutions involved for their active collaboration in the development of the project and urged the State to guarantee an inclusive and equitable quality education that provides lifelong learning opportunities. for all.

During the inauguration ceremony, the Technical Deputy Minister of Education, Héctor Canto, also participated. Likewise, it was attended by the Deputy General Director of Fe y Alegría Guatemala, Karen Avendaño; the Departmental Director of Education of Totonicapán, María Dominga Pú; and the Presidential Commissioner against Racism, Juan Everardo Chuc Xum. It is important to highlight the participation of girls, adolescents, and women who will benefit from the project.

Following the formal ceremony, the national and local authorities, as well as the authorities of the educational center, participated in the symbolic opening of the center where they made the cut of a ribbon that marked the inauguration of the same.

Through the opening of this Center, the activities programmed to promote the education of girls and women of Santa María Chiquimula are officially initiated.